Give Love
by mattnme04
Summary: Oneshot-Songfic TG Story. The opinions of the world have brought Gabriella down. When the one person whose opinion matters the most tries to give her love, will she learn to listen and be able to give back a portion of that love in return?


**Give Love**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

_Whisper softly to me  
><em>_Share with me your heart  
>And just ignore the world and what it does<br>I know that you've been hurting  
>You've been torn apart<br>I will pull you close  
>And hold you in my arms<em>

Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez had been best friends for as long as they could remember. Not only were they next-door neighbors, but their parents had also been friends in college. Needless to say, as they were growing up, they were always together for various activities.

By the time they were in high school, Troy had discovered he was madly in love with Gabriella. He was pretty sure she didn't return those feelings. She was the smartest girl in school and everyone knew that. That knowledge, however, deemed her as the school nerd because you could usually find her in the library studying rather than joining some club or following the crowd as they went to parties and social events.

Because she was the school nerd, Troy usually saw her getting picked on and made fun of. If it wasn't her smarts, it was her looks that they made fun of. She wore glasses, which some of the jocks usually knocked off of her face or just made rude comments about. But to Troy, she couldn't have been more beautiful.

He thought she was beautiful from the inside out. She was smart, witty, and fun. She had the most beautiful brown eyes behind those glasses and her hair hung in beautiful, dark brown curls.

Each night when Troy went home, he knew exactly what kind of day Gabriella had. All he wanted to do was hold her and tell her that everything was going to be okay. But she never would open up to him, saying she didn't want him to get involved in it. She preferred to deal with it herself. But she never actually dealt with it. She just let it happen. But it was time for Troy to step in. He couldn't stand to see the girl who he loved so much get hurt any longer.

_If you give love  
>I'll return the love and you will see<br>So much more than you gave away  
>If you give love<br>Give it to me_

One evening, Troy was in his room doing homework when he looked over to Gabriella's room through his window. Their room were right across from each other and he could see straight in to check on her. What he saw, though, concerned him. Gabriella was sitting on her bed crying. She'd had a horrible day. The football captain had managed to completely knock her glasses off and break them. And what had Troy done? He had simply stood by and watched the whole thing because Gabriella didn't want him to get involved. She didn't want people at school to know that he, Troy Bolton - Basketball Captain, socialized with her.

Troy, however, had had enough. He couldn't stand by and watch her hurt like this. He left his room, telling his mom he was going over to talk to Gabriella. He went over to her house, informing her mom he wanted to talk to her. She gave him a sympathetic smile and told him good luck and that she hoped he could get through to her since she'd had a bad day.

He walked up to her room and knocked. He heard sniffles from the other side of the door before he heard her voice.

"Mom, I'm not really in the mood to talk right now."

"It's not your mom. It's me," Troy said as he opened the door slightly to peek in.

She wiped her tears. "Oh. What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't help but notice you were crying," he said as he pointed out her window.

She blushed. "Guess I should close my curtains."

"Sorry. I wasn't trying to spy on you or invade your privacy. I just glanced up and noticed." She nodded. "So…would you like to talk about it?"

"What's there to talk about, Troy. You saw what happened. I'm just trying to figure out how to tell my mom my glasses got broken without telling her how it really happened."

"Gabi, you need to tell your mom what's going on. Or at least let me step in and help you out."

"No, Troy. I can't let you do that. Do you know how bad that would hurt your reputation if people knew you were defending me?"

"Gabi, how many times do I need to tell you that I don't care? I could care less about my reputation. If I lose all the people who say they are my friends when a majority of them are only my 'friends' because of my status, who cares? I don't. As long as I see that you're not hurting anymore. I can't bare to see you hurt anymore."

Troy walked over and sat next to Gabriella, pulling her in close to him, holding on to her as she cried, wishing he could tell her he loved her and take away all the pain.

_Listen very closely as I sing this song  
>And please believe that I mean every word<br>When I say I love you  
>I mean it with all my heart<br>Let it be the best thing  
>That you've ever heard<em>

The next day at school, Troy kept a closer watch on Gabriella. Since her glasses had been broken, she had wore contacts to school. She had heard a few of the guys make a few vulgar comments about her appearance. After she had passed, Troy had approached them and told them to watch what they said about her. He had been razzed about it afterwards but he didn't care. They had no right to make fun of her then turn right back around and make obscene comments about her.

Later that night, Troy went over to her house once again to check in on her. She wasn't crying this time, but he knew she was struggling.

"Hey, how was your day?"

"Well nothing's broken today."

"Except your heart," Troy said, looking straight through her exterior.

She gave Troy a small smile. "Yeah," she said quietly.

"Gabi, you need to ignore them. You're just going to get beat further and further into the ground if you don't. You can't believe what they're saying. None of it is true. I hate to see your self-esteem so low."

"But it is true, Troy. At least what they say on most days. You know…I'll admit that some of the comments I heard today were comments that I have always wanted to hear from a guy. More positive comments about how I look. But I know they're not true. The comments that they make on a regular basis are the more factual ones. I'm not pretty, Troy. I look the part of a geek, which is exactly what I am. I don't have the body of a supermodel. My hair isn't straight…the list could go on and on."

Troy let out a loud sigh of frustration. Gabriella looked at him. "You know what…forget this. I wasn't going to say anything, but I love you. Gosh, I love you so freaking much! And I know you probably don't return those feelings, but I wish you would. You don't realize how much it hurts me just to see you hurt every day. I just wish that you could see what I see. You are so beautiful, Gabriella. You eyes…you have the most beautiful eyes that remind me of the color of chocolate. You're beautiful even when you wear your glasses, but I love seeing you without them because I can see your eyes better. And your hair…who cares if your hair isn't straight. You have the most beautiful curls that I have ever seen. I know there are girls out there that would die to have your curls. But above all of that is the beauty of your heart. Gabi, you wouldn't ever hurt anyone, and I love that about you. You are the most compassionate person I know. Plus you're smart and witty and fun to be with. If I could spend all my time with you I would. Please don't listen to what everyone around us says or thinks. That's not what's important. What is important is the truth. Please believe me. Everything that I just said came straight from my heart and is completely true."

Gabriella was crying by the time I finished. She looked up at me, her eyes still full of tears, and whispered, "That's the best think I've ever heard."

I smiled.

_If you give love  
>I'll return the love and you will see<br>So much more than you gave away  
>If you give love<br>Give it to me  
><em>_Oh, give it to me, oh_

_Whisper softly to me  
><em>_Share with me your heart_

"I'm not sure I'm ready to believe you just yet, though. I'm sorry, Troy." Gabriella looked back down at her lap.

Troy nodded, knowing she had been beaten down so much that it would be hard to believe all of that at one time. "I understand. Just think about one thing for me," he said as he crouched down on the floor in front of where she sat on her bed. "If you decide to give love to someone, give it to me." Troy's eyes pleaded with her. "I can give you so much more than you could give away. I love you so much, Gabriella Montez. And I'll wait for you to realize that."

Gabriella's tears started in full force once again as she listened to Troy, her heart slowly opening to him as she heard the sincerity in his voice. She nodded at him before he stood and walked out of her room, leaving her to think about what he had told her.

_If you give love  
><em>_I'll return the love and you will see  
><em>_So much more than you gave away  
><em>_If you give love_

Gabriella thought more and more about Troy's words over the next several days. She realized that even in the midst of all of the cruel things the world did to her, Troy had always been there for her, with open arms, ready to comfort her. She couldn't even count the number of times he had just pulled her close and held her, not even requiring her to talk to him. He was just there. And he loved her. He loved _her_. Somehow he had looked through everything and saw something that no one else did.

But the biggest revelation she had was that she loved _him_. She loved everything about him, but most of all she loved the fact that he loved everything about her, flaws and all. That was true love, wasn't it?

After school, she decided to go see him. She found him lying on his bed, shirt discarded once he got home. His right arm was laid straight out to his side, while his left was laid across his eyes. She assumed he was asleep when he didn't respond to her sitting on the bed next to him. She decided to be bold for once and crawled up to lie next to him, laying her head on his shoulder, feeling the need to be close to him. He shifted in his sleep, circling her with his right arm and pulling her closer to him. She laid there for several minutes just watching him sleep, wondering how she had gotten so lucky to have a guy like him, the most popular guy in school, love her.

She began tracing invisible patterns on his chest as he slept. Troy woke up to the sensations, slowly taking his left arm from his eyes as he looked down at the beauty that was lying in his arms.

"Hey," he said quietly, rubbing her back with the hand that had been draped around her.

"Hi," she said, suddenly nervous.

He looked at her, knowing there was a reason she was there. "What's on your mind? Are you okay?"

She looked down and nodded, tracing a few more invisible patterns before looking back up at him, finding him still staring at her.

"Talk to me," he pleaded, whispering to her like they were telling secrets.

She looked up at him, seeing all the love he held for her in his eyes. Seeing that gave her the courage. "I love you," she whispered.

Troy's grin couldn't have gotten any bigger. "Say it again," he said, closing his eyes.

Gabriella smiled. "I love you," she said again, a little louder this time.

"She loves me," he whispered, then rolled over, pinning her to the bed, staring at her. "She loves me!" he shouted. He stared into her eyes. He slowly leaned down and kissed her lips, keeping it gentle and slow. He pulled back and looked at her, her eyes still closed. When she opened them, he stared into them, melting into the pools of chocolate. "I love you, too, so much!"

Gabriella grinned the first real smile Troy had seen on her face for quite some time.

_If you give love  
><em>_I'll return the love and you will see  
><em>_So much more than you gave away  
><em>_If you give love  
><em>_Give it to me_

Two years later, Troy and Gabriella were finishing up their sophomore year of college. They had gone to different colleges, much to their disappointment, but had managed to stay close to one another, finding colleges just 30 minutes apart with an apartment halfway between the two to live in.

There relationship was the strongest it had ever been. Gabriella had finally managed to believe Troy when he said she was beautiful. She still had her doubts and insecurities, but she loved the compliments he gave her.

Troy had finally asked her to share her heart with him when he asked her to marry him. He had been very nervous to ask her, but had just took the plunge. She had been extremely surprised, but couldn't have been happier. He had always shown her far more love than she had ever thought she was worthy of, far more than she would ever be able to give him. But that was just another thing she loved about him.

_Oh, give it to me  
><em>_Oh, give it to me_

The day of their wedding was the most beautiful day Gabriella had ever seen. She couldn't remember Troy looking so handsome as he did that day in his tux. And for once, she felt absolutely beautiful, like a princess. For once, she didn't care what anyone around her said. She knew how she felt that day, and nothing could have taken her down.

The vows that were spoken between her and Troy were beautiful as well. They had decided to say their own directly from their hearts.

"Troy, I don't know that I've ever felt as complete as I feel when I'm with you. You truly are my other half and I think God every day for sending you to me. You've always been here for me since I can remember, even in times when no one else knew to be there. You just knew without me even having to say a word. I know that I'll never be able to reciprocate the amount of love that you have shown me, but I'm going to try. I love you so much, Troy Bolton, and I will never stop."

Troy smiled at her and squeezed her hands that he was holding before starting with his own. "Gabriella, I know that you've been hurt a lot in the past. But as I've shown you, each time you're hurting I'll pull you close and hold you in my arms until all is right again. You are the most beautiful woman, inside and out, that I have ever known. I want nothing more than to make sure all is right in your world and show you what love really is. You finally decided to give love, and I'm so glad that you gave it to me. Please believe me when I say that I love you, I mean it with all my heart."

"That's the best thing I've ever heard," she whispered as tears glistened in her eyes.

Troy smiled at her as he squeezed her hands once again. Neither could believe they had made it to this day, hardly able to fathom the other wanted to spend the rest of their lives with them. But they had made it through only because they had each decided to give love.

**THE END**

**Thanks so much for reading! I loved writing this to this song. The song is "Give Love" by Third Day. I'm not too sure about the ending, but there it is…let me know what you think! Leave me a review!**


End file.
